Greg Moyle was our guest speaker on Tuesday 12 February 2019.Introduced by Roger Harvey, Greg spoke to us on the subject of a proposed New Zealand Museum in Le Quesnoy, Hainaut, France.
By way of introduction Greg took us through the events that lead the New Zealand Division to Le Quesnoy in 1918.
Greg noted the origins of the fortifications at Le Quesnoy, designed by the great French military architect Sebastien Vauban. Those fortifications formed part of a series of fixed defensive fortifications on the northern borders of France. Le Quesnoy unlike many other of Vauban's creations, remains more or less intact as it's capture in 1918 was achieved without the traditional bombardment before the assault by ground
troops.
The New Zealand division served gallantly on the western front, it saw action on the Somme, Messines, Broodseinde Ridge, and of course Passchendaele. In 1918 the division was at the forefront of the British 3rd army during the 100 days offensive. Following actions at Baupame, Cambrai and ultimately Le Quesnoy.
The problem with Le Quesnoy was that it was a fortress with significant ramparts, bastions and other defensive works.
However the New Zealand division being made up of New Zealanders managed to identify a low part of the ramparts and managed to get one ladder to the spot which enabled the men from the 4th rifle division to scale the ramparts and ultimately gain access to the town which lead ultimately to it's capture.
Le Quesnoy was the last major action for the New Zealand division before the Armistice. Greg noted that out of a population of about 1 million in 1914-18 about 100,000 men saw action in Egypt, Gallipoli and the Western Front. Casualties totalled about 75,000 with 18277 killed.
While not many people in New Zealand know of or remember Le Quesnoy the population of Le Quesnoy remember and honour New Zealand and the sacrifice of its men in World War 1. What the people of Le Quesnoy remember most is that the town was spared destruction when the New Zealand division took it in 1918.
The main point of Gregs address was to tell us of the project to create a permanent place of remembrance on the western front for those of our forebears who died on those battlefields. Unlike us the Australians have built a memorial to its men costing some 100 million dollars. As yet we don't.
The project Greg spoke to was the construction of a Memorial Museum at Le Quesnoy, the land having been acquired already within the town. The chair of the New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust is Sir Don Mackinnon who has secured the support but not much else of the Hon Winston Peters for the project. Donations are sought for the purpose of the development as a consequence. The amount needed to get the Museum up and running is anticipated to be about 18 million dollars not a small sum, but with good will it can be achieved. Once the Museum is up and running it is anticipated to be self funding as it will provide accommodation to those visiting the Battlefields and Cemeteries of the Western Front.
Greg gave us an idea of the project centred on the land acquired which is intended to be a working memorial to the sacrifices of our forebears.
More detail can be found at the website www.nzmm.org.nz.